Carrey was talking to 285 students from 54 countries, who were graduating from the university. The University Board of Trustees also presented Carrey with the honorary degree of Doctor of Fine Arts Honoris Causa, in recognition of his significant lifetime achievements as a world-renowned comedian and actor, artist, author and philanthropist.

In his speech, Carrey describes how his father had always dreamed of a career in comedy but instead made a "conservative choice" and got a job in accounting. However, The Truman Show star went on to explain how his father lost that "safe job" forcing his family to do "whatever we could to survive."

This was a turning point for Carrey who learnt this lesson from his father: "You can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love."

His motivational speech was met enthusiastically by the graduates at Marharishi whose foundations are based on “conscious based learning."